Ash flopped into the pilot’s seat, much like he did at home, but it did not embrace him right away like his trusty recliner. He bounced at first, and then sank deeper as the memory cushion molded around him.

“Okay, I get it, you don’t know me yet. We can take it slow.” Ash muttered under his breath.

“I’m sorry?” Kate asked with a puzzled look to her left.

“Oh, not you. The uh thing. The seat.” Ash stammered.

“Um, ok, did you bring the key?” She asked with a grin.

“Oh crap, I left it with my truck keys.”

The Solent came alive as they went through the pre-flight checklist that they had only learned a few months ago in pilot training. Space flight itself was not a new concept but had only just become a commercial venture in the last decade or so. New pilots had to undergo weeks of physical testing and conditioning before moving on to learning large amounts of knowledge and safety procedures. You didn’t need to know how to build a ship, just how to fly it safely and preferably how to land but even that could be handled by Charlie, the mandatory shipboard A.I.

“Commander please hold a moment. Mr. Cross is working on a small issue with the fuel tanks.” Said a woman’s voice from the overhead speakers.

“Holy-.” Ash started.

“Thank you Charlie, let us know when it’s resolved.” Kate replied, looking up for some reason.

“Yes Miss Young.”

“Kate is fine.”

"Yes Kate.”

“Miller, the fuel is getting a little hot but I think it will be okay for liftoff. I juiced up the coolant system a little bit, no issue.” Jayden said from the same speakers.

Ash looked puzzled but replied “Yeah okay, keep juicing or whatever you do down there. Let’s not blow up, that would be embarrassing.”

Pilot’s didn’t have to go to engineering school, and engineers didn’t learn how to fly the ship. It would be too much to learn and the job market demanded new skilled workers at too high a rate. Every transportation company wanted to reach for the stars and take on the new opportunities that awaited them, but a lack of specially trained employees put a bottleneck on the progress. Mr. Young however didn’t feel comfortable with this arrangement and saw to it that his little girl be cross trained as much as possible in the time between completing her pilot training and liftoff.

“We wont blow up, once we’re in the sky the air will help cool the tanks as well. It’s a known flaw on the T60.” She said. “Keep going on startup.”

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“Alright, almost ready.” Ash said with an approving nod.

Once the pre flight checks and procedures were complete and the crew was strapped into their seats, it was finally time.

“One small step for truck drivers, one giant leap for their bosses.” Ash said, and engaged the engines like he had done many times in the months leading up to this moment. The only difference being that it was real this time and he was about to leave Dottir, “Daughter of Earth”.

With all boosters pointed down and firing into the surface of the pad, the aging space truck, shaped like a much thicker B-2 stealth bomber from Earth in the 1990’s, lifted herself into a vertical climb of over one hundred feet into the air and into a hover for dramatic effect.

“Miller, don’t showboat too long, we need some airflow, temps are rising.” Jayden said from engineering.

“Ok, roger that, here we go.” Ash said and pulled back on the stick to angle her nose upward and the boosters automatically adjusted to give the ship what the pilot was asking for. The Solent rocketed out of sight and into the atmosphere in minutes. To Ash, who had witnessed space travel in it’s early days, this was a feat of magic. There was intense pressure from the G forces of the sudden acceleration but most of it was dampened by the advanced tech, that Charlie was in charge of, and also from the foam that now hugged their bodies securely as they sank into it.

“Charlie, how much longer.” Ash managed to croak out.

“Thirty seconds.” The robotic woman replied through the cockpit speakers.

The Solent breached the last layers of Dottir’s outer atmosphere and plunged gracefully into the black ocean of space. The force of the gorilla on Ash’s chest was replaced with a normal amount of artificial gravity and relief flooded over him. He looked over at Kate and could see her recovering as well.

“Jay, are you alright down there?” He asked.

“Yeah all good. Everything in the green. Permission to come up and look out the window?”

Ash smiled. “Of course, it’s incredible.”

It was incredible. Unlike the B-2 bomber, there were more windows than just the ones that acted as a windshield to fly. There were smaller ones on each side of the cockpit as well as a large window in the ceiling. Charlie had thoughtfully put a view of Dottir on the center console, due to it being behind the Solent as they worked to pull away from her gravity. It was stunning. The green, brown, white, and blue were so vibrant against the inky black of space that it didn’t even look like it belonged there in the first place.

“Charlie keep us on course please.” Ash said and reached into his duffel bag for the bottle of bourbon, still intact and hidden under his clothes. Kate’s eyes widened.

“What are you doing?” She hissed. “You can’t have that!”

Ash grinned. “Let me just throw it out the window then.”

She put her hand to her head and sat back in her copilot’s seat. Incredulous.

“Ohhhh baby!” Jayden said after he peeled himself back from the window.

“Oh my god, we’re gonna die.” Kate said, looking up at the ceiling as if the answers would be there.

“A toast, to the V.F.C.’s first ever space flight, and to our safe return!” Ash took a sip and passed the bottle to Jayden.

“To our safe return and may we bang many hot alien chicks.” He glanced at Kate “and dudes, along the way” and he took a long sip before offering it up to her. To his surprise, she took it.

“To a safe voyage into the mostly unknown.” She said, and took a sip of her own.

“I’ll take first shift Kate, go ahead and get some rest, I’ll see you later.” Ash said and put the bottle back into his bag with a wink and a nod.

"V.F.C. 1, this is the U.D.M. vessel Bao. You are cleared to break orbit, safe travels." A voice said over the ship wide comms and Ash instinctively hid the bottle of rum beside his leg for no reason at all.

"Thank you Bao, we'll see you in a few months." Ash replied and pushed back against the memory foam. "Accept me." he muttered.